Notes / Commercial Description:
"As the name implies, this is one knock-out of a beer. Brewed to be a light bodied, refreshing ale, Blonde Bombshell combines subtle malt and wheat flavors with a delicate Liberty hop aroma to create a sensational beer. Originally brewed as a seasonal, this beer was so popular it pushed its way into our regular line-up."

User Reviews

Appearance: Pours a slightly hazy straw color with a modest heads that leaves a few dribs and drabs of lace

Smell: A little bit of grain and a little bit of lemon; about what would be expected for the style

Taste: Opens with a biscuity malt character that adds a hint of lemon shortbread by mid-palate; after the swallow the sweeter malt flavors continue to complement the hint of lemony hops into the finish

Mouthfeel: Light to medium body with moderately crisp carbonation

Drinkability: Very refreshing on a hot summer's day; I like the lemon shortbread character

Pallid gold with a light dusting of yeast. I've seen light lagers that were darker than this. The bone white cap is on the short side and looks... just okay. It stays around for a bit, though, and isn't too shabby when it comes to decorating the glass.

It's hard to appreciate much even after multiple concentrated sniffs. Truth be told, pale malt and wheat malt don't have much aroma. Liberty hops should be contributing more (especially at 26 IBUs), but they aren't. Boooring.

Blonde makes sense, but Bombshell is seriously overstating the case. Maybe the brewery thought they needed to draw attention to a plain Jane beer by giving it an exciting name and label (which is well done, by the way). It certainly wouldn't be the first time that has happened.

Unlike the nose, the flavor provides a little something to go on. That said, it's nothing but lightly sweet, untoasted grain and a moderate amount of herbal, spicy hops. The bitter edge and the semi-snappy finish are nice, but they aren't enough to pull this little ale above the ranks of the merely mediocre. Does anyone really *love* American blonde ales?

The mouthfeel is as expected for a low ABV beer from a less than top-tier brewery. It's light without being (too) thin, has less than the normal amount of carbonation, and is more harsh and fizzy than soft and smooth.

Cascade Lakes Blonde Bombshell is no silver screen beauty queen, that's for damn sure. It's an also-ran of a blonde ale (is that a dye job?) that tries to impress with more than the usual amount of hoppiness. Unfortunately, it doesn't have the chops to make it through the first audition.

This fairly bland, but highly drinkable. Lightweight grainy nose, with some taste of a wheat ale, lightly hopped.. Pale golden body with a scant head. Mild hoppy, dry finish. Would be good on a very, very hot day.

Poured into a Dogfish Head pint glass. Pours a light straw amber with a thin white head with decent retention and light slippery lacing. Aroma of sweet bready malt and light grassy hops. Flavor follows, sweet bready malt, a hint of citrus and a light grassy hop finish. Light bodied. American blonds seem to the opposite side of the coin to "crafty" megabrewer beers: a craft beer mimicking an adjunct lager. Lightly flavored, pleasant and inoffensive, this could pass as a macro brew. No faults, but I'm unlikely to return to this bombshell.

Explodes out of bottle with a five+ white head that fades to a shallow layer and leaves some lace. Cloudy pale amber color, looks like a wheat. Light carbonation and medium bodied. Citrusy nose. Starts like a wheat with yeast flavor and citrus notes, light clean finish and yes there is a blonde on the label so it isn't a wheat. $1.35 for a 12oz bottle from John's Market Tigard, Or.

It's totally worth grabbing this beer if you see it. Whatever outside work or play you're doing during the summer, this brew will be a worthy companion.

Edit 5/13/12: CL's beers recently started showing up in my area and I grabbed a bottle of this without realizing that I had reviewed it before. My numbers were slightly different, 3.0/3.0/3.5/3.5/3.5, but my overall impression was pretty much the same. This is a very nice, smooth, easy drinking brew that's worth your time when your in the mood for this style.

Comes out of the tap a clear golden with a fine-bubbled white head. Crisp, malty aroma has an undertone of pear and apple. Malty and crisp flavor has a fruity undertone that is mainly pear with some apple. Fizzy, lively texture leaves behind a persistent tingle.

Once a summer seasonal, now a year-round beer, this American Blonde Ale style is part of a recent resurgence of the style, thought to be a good stepping stone style for the novice beer drinker.

Its brilliant bright golden color flaunts a crystal-clear clarity. Light doughy biscuity aroma, almost like fresh-baked shortbread. The head subsides to a thin lace pretty quickly. Some light floral hop flavor in the nose. Light and crisp, wet on the palate--a clean beer. Semi-husky malt flavor goes a bit bready. Hops drop just enough bitterness to balance, with a lingering herbal flavor to boot. This beer dries up pretty fast and leaves the mouth clean, for the most part.

While this beer may not be for the beer geek at all, it's a good choice to help convert the typical mass-produced lager drinker; or you could simply chalk this up as an American session ale. A heaping plate of nachos topped with chili and pepper jack cheese strikes us as the perfect pairing.

On tap at "The Lodge" in Bend, OR.
Typical pale lager colour..pale yellow,wispy head,livelly carbonation
Very faint aroma..some light grainy smell..not much else.
Pretty sweet taste for most of the mouthful, then a very light hop kick then more sweetness to finish
Sweet and somewhat cloying on the palate.
Drinkable..yes, but not any better than a regular "macro"&gt;.

A regrettably misguided ale of tepid dimensions and foul disposition. Bombshell is sunny yellow like aspen leaves in October. It is clear with a deft white head that makes no overtures towards lace. But it smells like a soapdish with a dry, edgy taste, bland bitterness, and a wholly unwelcome aftertaste.

A micro brew with macro misfortunes.

Also, I cant let pass the misguided blurb on the menu equating the relatively low 4.2% alcohol by volume with low carbohydrates. Blonde Bombshell may be Cascade Lakes lowest ABV beer, but to claim, that means low carbs is to betray an ignorance of essential nutritional facts.

Alcohol has no carbohydrates at all. None. It does have more calories than carbohydrates (or proteins) do, so its fair to suggest that a beer with lower alcohol also has less calories. But not only does lower alcohol content not correspond to lower carbohydrates, it may actually suggest higher carbohydrates if the beer has low attenuation and a greater reserve of fermentable sugars.

*NOTE* This is a blonde ale. Its designation as a lager should be corrected or ignored.

Smell (3.5) : Rich, toasted grains. Bready sweetness, roasted malts, yeasty heaven. A touch of caramel. I absolutely love the smell of blondes (pfft, haha) and this one is no different.

Taste (3.25) : I really wish there was more yeast here, but it's not too bad. I'm getting corn or malted grains of some sort, bread crust, and some sour malt notes here and there. Hint of lemon on the finish.

A good blonde in my opinion has a lovely, bready yeast that just rises up and slaps you lovestruck. That's sadly missing here. It tastes more like a typical adjunct lager with some extra breadiness. That being said, it's not a bad tasting beer - it's just missing what I love most.

Mouthfeel (3.25) : Spiky carbonation, dissolves slowly into a smooth creamy finish. Wheat burps. Acceptable for the style but wish it were smoother.

Overall (3.31) : It's worth a try. I personally have yet to find a better blonde than Dempsey's Battle Axe Blonde in Watertown, SD on tap. That's my hometown, and that beer is downright amazing. On the right night, you're drinking fresh baked bread. Even on the wrong night, it's a good beer. Anyways, the Blonde Bombshell from Cascade Lakes is reminiscent of a macro lager with a slight hint of breadiness. Try it if you can. If you can't, you're not missing out on much.

A 12 ounce bottle fresh from my sister's fridge. I drank this straight from the bottle while doing many sweaty chores in Bend, OR., so my recollection may be a bit faulty.

I enjoyed this beer a great deal on a warm afternoon. It hit the spot with no bad attributes. Don't know if it truly qualifies as a blonde, so let's assume it was a lager. Still tasted smooth and well balanced. Not too hoppy. Nice malt flavor. Will try again.

A recent addition to Cascade Lakes' line of bottled beers. Pours a pale golden color that is amazingly still, topped by a small, fizzy white head. Appealing aroma of light sweet malt, honeysuckle, light ale yeast, and a hint of vanilla. Palate is light sweet malt with lighlty spicy, floral hops, some ale yeast. Body is thin, which is proper for a blonde, but the lack of carbonation makes the consistency a bit unappealing. Light and fairly devoid of flavor, I probably won't be picking this one up again.

Half finger white head, quick dissipation with a few streams of lazy small bubbles rising to surface over straw gold clear body. Sweet nose, grassy hops with what smells like significant light wheat infusion, clean nose. Very pilsener like taste despite the wheat, sweet malts with subtle peppery grassy hops. Mouthfeel is light, a bit thin, good effervescence. Certainly sessionable at this ABV, I was a bit surprised how much flavor this had. Good entry craft beer for non-hopheads.

Had on-tap @ Brewforia Beer Market Meridian ID. Served in a pint glass.

A: Clear straw/yellow, high carbonation, decent amount of brilliant white head and lace.

S: Almost lager-like, light fruitiness in the form of apple & pear, cracker, malt, grain & a touch of cereal, hint of banana.

T: Follows the nose, malt forward with a light twang of wheat, grains dominate with notes of banana, green apples and other faint fruits underneath...a touch of a skunk character as well but not distracting.

MF: Light, well carbonated, and wet.

O: Not something I could have a ton of but I could see it being a decent summer drinker.

Poured from a 12oz bottle, Ive had a bit of a runny nose lately, so I hope it didn't really affect my olfactory perception, but smell was rather weak. Faint aromas of wet grass and dew, really smells like a mild summers night. The apperance was nice,white frothy head that dissapated quickly. Taste was slightly malty, good hops, very light mouthfeel, the beer was gone and I really enjoyed the lightness of it. Since we only have 2 days of winter here in Chas, Sc it is warm out, and a nice day to drink this beer, look foward to trying more in the summer.

Its been a while since I've had a blonde that I'd have another of. It may yet be a while longer. That's not to say this wasn't good, its just not my style.

This beauty poured a washed golden, with what looks like a fair amount of sediment. When the glass moves, it looks almost like the skin of a squid - small dots pulsing underneath the surface. There isn't any head, and the carbonation is less than lively.

The aroma is a pleasant sweet one, and that's about it.

The taste is clean, rather sweet and thin up front, but a growing malt sensation as you swallow. The flavor continues to grow some in your mouth, and really is almost like a magic trick.

There is no detectable hop flavor or aroma, but that is fine for the style. It produces a salivating affect that a good beer has, so there must be hops in there.

Its rather true to style and would be stellar at the beach. So far, its probably one of my favorites in the style.

Had this one on-tap at CL's Lodge in Bend. Served with a lemon wedge in the glass. Ugh, don't like where this is going.

Straw (budweiser-colored) yellow. Fizzy highly carbonated head.

Very sweet and grainy. Yeast funk with some citrus (probably from lemon slice). Low ABV and "low carb" according to the menu. It reminds me of a Miller Light with a lemon in it. For the macro drinker, it's probably pretty close to their expectations. Me, I expected a good blonde, what I tasted was a wheaty american pilsner with a fruit slice.

Blonde Bombshell was served at the Cascade Lakes Lodge in Bend. In the glass, the beer was a pale, weak straw color, and was topped by a thin white head. The nose was lightly sweet, and a tad citrusy. The taste was crisp and decent, with a light, sort of grainy malt base let off a nice citrus zip...good balance. The body was fairly light, and the carbonation appropriate. This is an average blonde ale to enjoy on hot and dry Central Oregon afternoon.